The Fort Worth Press - Anti-whaling activist Watson to face Greenland detention hearing

USD -
AED 3.673035
AFN 70.973696
ALL 91.139078
AMD 387.597967
ANG 1.790208
AOA 916.999905
ARS 1072.879398
AUD 1.589445
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.710825
BAM 1.795951
BBD 2.001478
BDT 120.458584
BGN 1.79255
BHD 0.376914
BIF 2946.608562
BMD 1
BND 1.332237
BOB 6.849246
BRL 5.666294
BSD 0.991281
BTN 84.727942
BWP 13.71999
BYN 3.24406
BYR 19600
BZD 1.991157
CAD 1.42172
CDF 2870.999912
CHF 0.87181
CLF 0.024908
CLP 955.83981
CNY 7.268102
CNH 7.308265
COP 4151.25
CRC 497.995803
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 101.252049
CZK 22.807002
DJF 176.520553
DKK 6.815105
DOP 62.600726
DZD 134.014994
EGP 50.569703
ERN 15
ETB 131.223376
EUR 0.913485
FJD 2.32785
FKP 0.770718
GBP 0.763635
GEL 2.759707
GGP 0.770718
GHS 15.364202
GIP 0.770718
GMD 71.503248
GNF 8578.342463
GTQ 7.647278
GYD 208.002571
HKD 7.781495
HNL 25.361916
HRK 6.883899
HTG 129.925472
HUF 365.850021
IDR 16740.2
ILS 3.7216
IMP 0.770718
INR 85.644201
IQD 1298.560573
IRR 42112.499797
ISK 131.460113
JEP 0.770718
JMD 156.532519
JOD 0.708899
JPY 147.042501
KES 129.250278
KGS 86.770497
KHR 3965.633624
KMF 453.493911
KPW 900.05404
KRW 1464.794987
KWD 0.30802
KYD 0.826083
KZT 498.872814
LAK 21473.009518
LBP 88818.38426
LKR 293.37031
LRD 198.252549
LSL 18.522831
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.79341
MAD 9.536696
MDL 17.778186
MGA 4634.548368
MKD 56.223817
MMK 2099.453956
MNT 3493.458295
MOP 7.947014
MRU 39.441871
MUR 45.370056
MVR 15.410223
MWK 1718.648846
MXN 20.18705
MYR 4.457497
MZN 63.898579
NAD 18.522491
NGN 1537.260009
NIO 36.478016
NOK 10.35709
NPR 135.567197
NZD 1.736995
OMR 0.38502
PAB 0.991272
PEN 3.640755
PGK 4.089091
PHP 57.089043
PKR 277.651413
PLN 3.814909
PYG 7935.757281
QAR 3.613908
RON 4.546498
RSD 107.05402
RUB 84.249234
RWF 1406.447288
SAR 3.751239
SBD 8.326764
SCR 14.352962
SDG 600.498776
SEK 9.790455
SGD 1.34261
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.829773
SLL 20969.501083
SOS 566.496017
SRD 36.599503
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.673134
SYP 13002.701498
SZL 18.514318
THB 34.280222
TJS 10.819318
TMT 3.51
TND 3.072869
TOP 2.342102
TRY 37.924995
TTD 6.725776
TWD 33.195499
TZS 2639.957998
UAH 40.993485
UGX 3615.16035
UYU 41.771309
UZS 12811.577435
VES 69.92661
VND 25805
VUV 123.569394
WST 2.832833
XAF 602.356323
XAG 0.030045
XAU 0.000319
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.749131
XOF 602.350791
XPF 109.511807
YER 245.649991
ZAR 18.922699
ZMK 9001.200568
ZMW 27.630981
ZWL 321.999592
  • AZN

    -0.3800

    72.22

    -0.53%

  • RBGPF

    67.7200

    67.72

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    9.77

    -0.1%

  • NGG

    0.0000

    65.78

    0%

  • RELX

    0.3100

    50.98

    +0.61%

  • CMSC

    0.0600

    22.5

    +0.27%

  • GSK

    -0.2300

    37.64

    -0.61%

  • BTI

    -0.8500

    40.25

    -2.11%

  • RIO

    -0.3300

    59.9

    -0.55%

  • VOD

    -0.1500

    9.12

    -1.64%

  • CMSD

    0.0100

    22.83

    +0.04%

  • SCS

    0.1400

    11.46

    +1.22%

  • BP

    0.0000

    33.81

    0%

  • BCC

    3.1600

    102.07

    +3.1%

  • JRI

    0.0600

    13.04

    +0.46%

  • BCE

    -0.9600

    21.82

    -4.4%

Anti-whaling activist Watson to face Greenland detention hearing
Anti-whaling activist Watson to face Greenland detention hearing / Photo: © AFP/File

Anti-whaling activist Watson to face Greenland detention hearing

American-Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, arrested in July in Greenland, will face a judge Thursday who will rule on his continued detention as a possible extradition requested by Japan looms.

Text size:

The district court in Nuuk -- the capital of the autonomous Danish territory -- will rule on whether there is cause to extend his detention for up to another four weeks.

"The hearing on August 15, 2024 will therefore not deal with the question of whether or not to extradite him," police said in a statement.

The decision on whether he will be extradited to Japan, which ultimately will be up to the Danish Ministry of Justice, will be taken independently.

Nevertheless, it will still be discussed at the hearing, his lawyer Jonas Christoffersen told a press conference on Monday.

"As a starting point, you would say that a person should be detained during the extradition case, because otherwise there could be a risk that the person would leave," Christoffersen said.

Watson, who featured in the reality TV series "Whale Wars", founded Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), and is known for radical tactics including confrontations with whaling ships at sea.

The 73-year-old campaigner was arrested on July 21 when the ship John Paul DeJoria docked in Nuuk to refuel.

- 'Red Notice' -

The vessel was on its way to "intercept" a new Japanese whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the CPWF.

Watson was arrested on the basis of a 2012 Interpol "Red Notice" after Japan accused him of causing damage to one of its whaling ships in the Antarctic two years earlier and causing injury.

Only Japan, Iceland and Norway allow commercial whaling.

Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd's French branch, has told AFP that Watson believes his arrest to be political, with Japan wanting him because he is a "political symbol".

Essemlali explained Monday that the arrest warrant had been made confidential and was no longer listed on Interpol's website, and Watson would otherwise not have stopped in Nuuk.

"All this was orchestrated. After all, 14 federal police officers and a Danish public prosecutor were put on a direct plane to Greenland to arrest Paul."

Japan asked Danish authorities to extradite him at the end of July.

In Japan, Watson faces a charge of causing injury, which can carry up to 15 years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 yen ($3,300).

He also faces a charge of forcible obstruction of business, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 yen.

- 'Presumption of guilt' -

At the upcoming hearing in Nuuk, Watson's lawyers intend to argue the detention he has already been subjected to is not proportional to the offence of which he is suspected.

"We will argue that the three weeks that have passed is more than enough and you can't extend it further than that," Christoffersen said.

With Watson's history of activism, Essemlali said that Japan would not be lenient, and given his age he would likely spend the rest of his life incarcerated.

"We absolutely want to avoid his extradition to Japan, because we know that if he is extradited to Japan, he won't get out alive", Essemlali said.

Francois Zimeray, another one of Watson's lawyers, also blasted the Japanese legal system on Monday.

"In Japan, there is a presumption of guilt and the prosecutors are proud to announce that they have a 99.6 percent conviction rate," Zimeray said.

Watson's arrest has sparked a series of protests calling for his release.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office has asked Denmark not to extradite the activist, who has lived in France for the past year.

W.Knight--TFWP